THE TELEGRAPH: Eighteen years ago, Rashin Soodmand's father was hanged in Iran for converting to Christianity. Now her brother is in a Mashad jail, and expects to be executed under new religious laws brought in this summer. Alasdair Palmer reports.
A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.
Imposing the death penalty for changing religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs.
And yet few politicians or clerics in Iran see any contradiction between a law mandating the death penalty for changing religion and Iran's constitution. There has been no public protest in Iran against it.
David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, stands out as one of the few politicians from any Western country who has put on record his opposition to making apostasy a crime punishable by death. The protest from the EU has been distinctly muted; meanwhile, Germany, Iran's largest foreign trading partner, has just increased its business deals with Iran by more than half. Characteristically, the United Nations has said nothing.
It is a sign of how little interest there is in Iran's intention to launch a campaign of religious persecution that its parliamentary vote has still not been reported in the mainstream media.
For one woman living in London, however, the Iranian parliamentary vote cannot be brushed aside. Rashin Soodmand is a 29-year-old Iranian Christian. Her father, Hossein Soodmand, was the last man to be executed in Iran for apostasy, the "crime" of abandoning one's religion. He had converted from Islam to Christianity in 1960, when he was 13 years old. Thirty years later, he was hanged by the Iranian authorities for that decision.
Today, Rashin's brother, Ramtin, is also held in a prison cell in Mashad, Iran's holiest city. He was arrested on August 21. He has not been charged but he is a Christian. And Rashin fears that, just as her father was the last man to be executed for apostasy in Iran, her brother may become one of the first to be killed under Iran's new law. Hanged for Being a Chrsitian in Iran >>> Alasdair Palmer | October 11, 2008
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE: Praise for British Foreign Secretary’s Condemnation of Iran Apostasy Bill
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Rt Hon David Miliband, MP, has condemned a draft bill currently making its way through the Iranian Parliament, which would codify the death penalty for apostasy. His views have been welcomed by the CSW human rights group.
David Miliband commented yesterday that he “deplore[d] the way in which the Iranian Parliament is… now discussing a draft penal code that would set out a mandatory death sentence for the crime, quote unquote, of apostasy.” He went on to say that “If adopted, [the legislation] would violate the right to freedom of religion, which is also an important basis of any civilised society.” >>> Staff Reporter | October 9, 2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS: EU Worried about Freedom of Religion in Iran
PARIS — The European Union said Friday it is "very worried" about what it sees as a deterioration of religious freedom in Iran.
A statement from the French Foreign Ministry on behalf of the EU says pressure has increased on religious minorities in the Islamic Republic in recent months, with arrests in the Christian and Baha'i communities. France currently holds the EU presidency.
The statement Friday also said that religious minorities, including Sufi and Sunni Muslims, undergo "regular persecution" such as the confiscation of their property, profanation of their prayer spaces and violence.
The EU says it also is concerned about the possibility the Iranian parliament could pass a bill to make apostasy a crime punishable by death.>>> AP | September 26, 2008
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